Author Archive:
Rien van Gendt
Donations, investments, and the uncharted territory in between
Donations are widely regarded as the core product of charitable foundations. This is how they see themselves, and how the outside world sees them. Most laws and regulations about philanthropy relate to donations, and media …
Big tech giants are the new polluters
Sustainability is what we want to achieve as investment funds, right? If so, shouldn’t we be leaving BigTech stocks – companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google – out of our portfolios? We surely need …
Blended value: financial returns, SDG’s and gender in harmony
How enlightened would it be, if foundations were to use gender lens investing as one of their strategies to contribute to a more sustainable world? Philanthropy and sustainable investing should be natural allies with a …
Foundation investments: Important to challenge popular beliefs
Recently Alliance magazine published a special issue that provides an inside perspective in the world of philanthropic investments, and I participated in a webinar organised by Alliance, that dealt with issues of transparency regarding the investment …
Partnering for the public good: an SDG strategy
The evolving interaction between foundations and government in the Netherlands could either excite people in the foundation community or worry them. The Dutch government signed a landmark agreement with foundations, called ‘Space for Private Giving’, …
Governance applies to investment too
Over the years it has surprised me how limited the opportunities are for information exchange between foundation Board members, for peer learning, and, even more important, for the professional development of Board members. In my …
The importance of international giving
The main purpose of this address is to touch on the current status of international grantmaking. I will do this by looking at the European perspective and by looking as a European in all modesty …
A more global role for European foundations?
In comparison with European foundations, some of the larger and most highly respected US foundations fund with real global vision. They are flexible, enlightened grantmakers that are prepared to adapt as they take risks and …
How to retail wholesale money
Like most big northern funders, the Bernard van Leer Foundation (BVLF) likes to support small local NGOs, often with very small grants. Sometimes this is only practicable if you use grantmaking intermediaries. In this case, …
Forging operational partnerships between foundations and the World Bank
Since James D Wolfensohn joined the World Bank Group as its President, he has made it very clear that he wants to see mutual understanding and effective cooperation between the Bank on the one hand …
